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Best AT&T prepaid phones (January 2018)

If you’re looking for a prepaid carrier in the United States, you have a ton of options. One of the best options out there is AT&T prepaid (formerly known as AT&T GoPhone). The carrier also has a number of handsets that we’ve compiled to help you find the best AT&T prepaid phones.

While AT&T (postpaid) has some of the best and most varied options for handsets, right now most of AT&T prepaid offerings are low- to mid-range at best. And we honestly find ourselves having a hard time recommending any of them. So our advice? If you plan to go with A&T Prepaid, take advantage of their “Bring your own phone” option, where they provide a SIM card for you to put into a device that you’ve purchased elsewhere.

Editor’s note – We will be updating this list as more devices hit the market.

Samsung Galaxy Express Prime 2

If you’re looking for a budget-friendly device on the AT&T prepaid network, you should check out the Samsung Galaxy Express Prime 2 on our best AT&T prepaid phones list. The successor to the original Prime, the new model trades out the 1.3GHz Exynos 3475 for a Samsung Exynos 7 Quad (7570).

Overall the specs here aren’t exactly that impressive, but it packs enough punch to perform most everyday tasks without breaking much of a sweat, just don’t expect it to be a gamer’s dream or anything. Other core specs include a 5-inch HD (720p) display, 16 GB storage with up to 256 GB expansion via microSD, 1.5 GB system RAM, and a 2,600 mAh removable battery.

ZTE Maven 3

The ZTE Maven 3’s best feature, earning it a spot on our best AT&T prepaid phones list, is its dirt-cheap price — just $29.99. For that low cost, you get a 5-inch 854 x 480 display, with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 210 processor running at 1.1 GHz. It also has 1 GB of RAM and 8 GB of onboard storage, with a way to add up to 32 GB of additional storage with its microSD slot. It has a 5 MP front-facing camera, a 2 MP rear camera, a 2,115 mAh battery, and Android 7.0 Nougat out of the box.

You definitely get what you pay for with this phone, but if you don’t have the money to spend on something more expensive, this is certainly a quick way to get an Android smartphone at a very low cost.

ZTE Blade Spark

The other ZTE phone available from AT&T prepaid is the Blade Spark, which will set you back $99.99. That’s still relatively cheap for any smartphone, and the ZTE Blade Spark includes a much larger 5.5-inch 1,280 x 720 display. It also has a faster Qualcomm Snapdragon 425 processor running at 1.4 GHz, along with 2 GB of RAM, 16 GB of onboard storage, and a microSD card slot for adding up to 128 GB of additional storage. It has a 13 MP rear camera, a 5 MP front-facing camera, a 3,140 mAh battery, and a fingerprint scanner on the back,

This is definitely a step up from the bare-bones ZTE Maven 3, but the Blade Spark has some solid hardware specs for a reasonable no-contract price and is a solid addition to our best AT&T prepaid phones list.

LG Phoenix 3

This AT&T prepaid phone is priced in between the two ZTE phones at just $49.99. It shares some of the features of the ZTE Maven 3. It also has a 5-inch 854 x 480 display, with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 210 processor running at 1.1 GHz. However, it has more memory, with 1.5 GB of RAM, and more storage at 16 GB, with a way to add up to 32 GB of more storage with its microSD card. The phone has 5 MP cameras on both the front and back, along with a removable 2,500mAh battery.

The LG Phoenix 3 isn’t quite as cheap as the ZTE Maven 3, but might be a good choice if you want more ram and onboard memory, and that’s why it’s earned a spot on our list of best AT&T prepaid phones.

As we’ve mentioned already, AT&T prepaid phones don’t offer a ton of notable options, and most of the phones available through the carrier are priced pretty high. Thus, you might be better off going with an unlocked option and activating it on AT&T’s prepaid network.

If you’re looking for a few other options, you can’t go wrong with these: